Outdoor Barrel Drum Grilled Chicken, Cheap and Tasty

There's a large barbecue contraption in front of La Playa Market. The grill guys do whole barbecued butterflied chickens on Mexican charcoal. Nothing else, "just pollos on the barrel drum grills. ... They're specialists," says Foodandwine. There's a window inside the market, and a girl inside cleavers up the cooked birds. A whole chicken is $7, and a half chicken is $4. The chicken is quite tasty, with a nice smokiness, says Feed_me. "I've had the chicken about 3 times now and it's pretty consistently good to my admittedly low-brow taste buds."

You can get tasty beans or rice, $3 a pint, from the window. You can sometimes also get grilled corn for a dollar. The birds are ready around 7 p.m., Thursday through Monday. There's no barbecue Tuesday and Wednesday.

"I think the place is a find for $7 hot-off-the-grill chicken over mesquite," says Foodandwine.